


clandestine meetings (and longing stares)

by lunasasylum



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Affairs, Cheating, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Jeronica, Mentioned Toni Topaz, Minor Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Minor Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Mutual Pining, Protective Jughead Jones, Song: illicit affairs (Taylor Swift), they're also stupid in love, they're cheating with each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29505327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunasasylum/pseuds/lunasasylum
Summary: "we have to stop meeting."jughead greedily took the easy access to her neck and pressed his lips against the exposed skin.his fingers danced along the hemline of her skirt, teasing the skin there."we are stopping," he murmured against her neck.// or jughead and veronica are two, stupid teenager who can't seem to stop.// or jughead and veronica cheat.
Relationships: Jughead Jones/Veronica Lodge
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55





	clandestine meetings (and longing stares)

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: i have not watched an episode of Riverdale since season 2, i have no idea what the current plotlines are like, so this is taking place outside of it.

_-_

_take the road less traveled by_

_tell yourself you can always stop_

_-_

"We can't keep doing this," Veronica whispered, tilting her neck upwards. "We have to stop meeting."

Jughead greedily took the easy access to her neck and pressed his lips against the exposed skin. His fingers danced along the hemline of her skirt, teasing the skin there. "We are stopping," He murmured against her neck. Veronica let out a sound that could only be classified as a whimper and grabbed his arms, molding her body closer to his. "This is it. This is our last time being together." He dropped his hand down her thigh, pulling her leg up. He nestled in the spot between her legs. She hooked her raised leg tightly on his waist, giving him an easier grip on her thigh.

They were currently in Veronica's bedroom, her room door locked behind them. He had pressed her against the wall next to the door, eagerly running his hands all over her skin.

It wasn't the first time they ended up in this position, hell, it wasn't even the first time this week. They both kept promising to each other that they would stop. Veronica swore she could drop it and not feel a thing. But she knew what she was feeling right now. Her skin was hot where he was touching her, and she knew that if he pulled away right at this moment, she'd almost cry. Jughead just knew how to touch her in the right way. He never failed to put his hands exactly where she needed to feel him.

What they were doing was wrong, it was wrong on so many levels, but she couldn't stop the way their bodies called out to each other. She couldn't stop the way she lit up underneath his touch, or the way she bent in his hands. Her ramrod straight spine always bowed when he placed his hand on the small of her back, quietly guiding her to some secret place he'd found for them to be together during school hours, because _yes,_ it had gotten so bad that they needed each other during school hours.

They used to be able to contain it to the dark of night, hiding underneath the cover of darkness, late night calls, grasping each other and begging for a few more minutes.

It's grown into so much more than that. Every moment that they can get alone together is immediately taken and exploited, then milked for everything it's worth.

Veronica wishes she didn't want it this much. She drags herself to confessional and prays that someone gives her the strength to push Jughead away and mean it. But nothing could stop the pull they have on each other. 

God himself could not separate the two lovers.

Jughead shifted them down to her bed, laying Veronica down first and taking his spot between her parted legs. He pressed his lower body against hers and kept himself from crushing the tiny woman by raising himself to his forearms. Veronica moaned lowly when he kissed her collarbones, pulling the collar of her shirt to the side and taking advantage of the newly exposed skin. 

"C'mon," She tried not to sound like she was begging. "Jughead."

He shook his head, continuing his slow and tortuous undoing of her body. "No, we have time."

-

_it's born from just one single glance_

_but it dies and it dies and it dies_

-

It was never supposed to be like this. It was never supposed to be a secret that they had to hide from everyone. But the night he walked into the diner with Archie, Veronica could not stop looking at him. When he jumped in the spot next her, she couldn't help the way her stomach clenched, and her heart started racing. That night Betty had her eyes on Archie, so she couldn't see Veronica watching Jughead or, more importantly, Jughead watching Veronica.

It laid in the subtext of their interactions for such a long time that they almost convinced themselves that they could survive with it like this. They tried to swear that they would be okay with the arguing and constant snapping at each other. But it wasn't enough.

When Veronica would chance a look at him from under her lashes, he couldn't look away. She had something hungry in her gaze that he couldn't file away. When they would sit next to each other at lunch, she'd press her entire leg against his, and it was enough to set his body on edge for the entire day. He was begging for something every time she would whisper a touch along his skin, something more than what he was allowed to have from her, something more than what he should want from her.

Veronica, unfortunately, was everything he wanted right now, and it was wrong.

It was wrong because he had Betty and she had Archie. It was wrong because her boyfriend was his best friend, and her best friend was his girlfriend. There were so many levels of lies and betrayal and hurt that occurred due to their simple thoughts about each other.

He wanted to contain it to something that wasn't physical. If they never touched each other, they weren't really cheating, and they weren't really hurting anybody. Then he called her late one night when he was dying to feel something from her, and she snuck out to meet him in a booth at Pop's. 

"Why'd you call me?" She asked, needing to know his answer. For the first time in her life, she was desperate for his response.

Jughead sighed, wrapping his large hands around the mug. "I don't know. I couldn't sleep, I was just up...I was just thinking about everything."

"Everything?" Veronica rose an eyebrow at him. She was already impatient with his ambiguity. "Okay, thank you for that." She got to her feet, ready to make her way home, embarrassed for putting herself out like this.

But Jughead grabbed her wrist, keeping her from leaving. He stood up next to her and looked around the empty diner, then brought his eyes back down to her.

"I was thinking about you, Veronica." He said finally, rubbing his hand along her arm. "I was thinking about all the ways you drive me fucking crazy."

Veronica scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yeah? What do I do?" She tries to sound annoyed, but she knows he can hear the pleading in her words.

Jughead gripped her arm a little tighter and she stepped closer to him, allowing him to bend next to her ear and speak softly to her. "You look at me, like...that."

"Like what?" She presses, almost aching to hear him explain.

"Like you want me, Veronica," He continues. "Like you need me to touch you, like want me to do something about the constant distance between us. You look at me and you talk to me like maybe we fucked up and we should've chosen each other. Veronica, you look at me like you want something more. Something you shouldn't want."

She exhales in relief because he understands her. He knows that she's been dying to be acknowledged, but she couldn't be the one to jeopardize their relationships and the rest of their high school careers. She hates that she's a coward when it comes to this, she hates that she has to put it on him, and she's thankful that he's strong enough to carry it now. She's thankful that they're both ready to take this leap.

"You look at me the same way, Jughead," Veronica leans against him. "You look at me the same exact way."

He inhales deeply, bookmarking this moment in his mind. "I want you, badly."

The way his voice sounds makes Veronica's knees weak, and she's gripping the bottom of his jacket, holding him tightly. He takes another look around the diner, and then has a quick glance over his shoulder into the parking lot. When he's sure everything is completely empty, he leans his forehead against hers, waiting for her permission. He's already given so much tonight, he needs to know that she's in this just as much as he is.

She leans up on her heels, pressing her lips harshly against his.

That kiss was their undoing.

-

_so you leave no trace behind,_

_like you don't even exist_

_-_

On Tuesday, Veronica rushes into school, blowing past people in the hallway. She finds Jughead leaning against his locker, talking with Fangs and Sweet Pea. Wasting no time on morning pleasantries, she grabs Jughead by the collar as soon as she reaches. "We need to talk Jones. Now." She yanks him away and drags him down the hallway ignoring Fangs and Sweet Pea's pleas to be gentle.

She pulls him into the student lounge, where it's still dark and empty. 

"What the hell?" Jughead asks, shrugging himself out of her rough grip.

"What the hell?" She repeated back to him. She pulled his hand out of his pocket and dropped his ring in his palm. "You left this in my room on Sunday!" Veronica whisper-yelled. Jughead shoved the ring onto his finger. "Are you trying to get us caught?"

Rolling his eyes, Jughead looked down at the brunette fuming in front of him. "Yes, Veronica," He begins sarcastically. "I was trying to ruin our entire lives by leaving one silver ring in your bedroom."

"Archie could have come over and seen it! He would have realized it was yours, and known that you were in my room on the weekend, when nobody else was over!" Veronica quickly explained, slapping his chest. "You need to be more careful Jughead. We both have to more careful."

Jughead sighed, rolling the ring around his finger. "Veronica—"

Veronica took a cautious glance over her shoulder and ran her hands down his chest. She gripped the bottom of his Serpent jacket, and then quickly released. "You're not being careful, Jughead! You're basically asking to get caught."

"So, what Veronica?" Jughead challenged. "Bald caps so we don't leave stray hairs? Getting our clothes dry cleaned every day?" When Veronica looked like she was considering those options Jughead immediately shook his head. "No. I will be more careful about my jewelry, I will watch out for all stray items Veronica, but I know what you're doing,"

"What am I doing?" Veronica asked, avoiding his eyes.

He touched her wrist, and she snapped her eyes back to his. "You're pushing me away. You're scared," She's about to respond to his accusations, but he keeps talking. "I can be careful, but not careful enough if you've decided that you don't want to this anymore. I tell you all the time Veronica, if you don't want this—if you really don't want this anymore—you just say the word, and we can stop, we're done. But don't make this about anything else but you and me."

"I'm saying the word."

Jughead pulls his hand away from her and leaves her standing there, alone.

He doesn't speak to her for the rest of the day aside from the passing quips and a biting "excuse me" when he brushed by her. It's the least they've ever talked since they met. Even when he was mad at her, he would launch into long, angry, drawn out rants and arguments with her that spanned the entire day. The radio silence burns her, and she hates it.

She hates that she misses him, she wants to be pulled in empty hallways, deserted classrooms; Veronica wants to be held for mere seconds, she wants the intimacy of the looks he saves only for her. At her request however, he's taken all that away.

Veronica doesn't want to miss it. She doesn't want to miss him, so she tries to pretend that she doesn't care. She tries to pretend that what happened between them wasn't even real. Veronica does her best to will away the thoughts of Jughead and his hands. Veronica tries to imagine that Archie's kisses are his—no, _better—_ and she tries to make that enough. She tries as hard as she can to make herself not think of him in the daytime, and especially not at night. She tries to stop hearing the echo of the knock on her balcony doors, his rings clinking against the glass under the light of the moon.

But that wasn't her dream to think of anymore. She gave all that up, she had to move on. Veronica couldn't lay in bed lamenting the loss of Jughead.

As far she was concerned, he didn't even exist.

It was going fine, mostly. Veronica couldn't help the way she felt, she couldn't stop the way her body strained and called out for him. She keeps trying not to find his eyes in every room, and she tries not to feel the sting of rejection when he doesn't even glance at her. It pains her that he's so good at this, it hurts her that she was the expendable one.

So, Veronica's surprised when Toni approaches her after practice with the Vixens on Wednesday afternoon. Veronica has just stepped out of the shower and is brushing her wet hair in the mirror in her locker. She starts drying off her skin as Toni comes into view.

"Hey Ronnie, you looked great today," Toni smiled, sitting on the bench as Veronica changed.

"Thanks, I've been working out a little more, I'm glad it's paying off," Veronica preened at the compliment.

Toni looked up at her, "Yeah, you looked great. I wish I could say the same for Jughead."

Veronica froze at the mention of his name and tried to shrug off the way her heart surged at the mention of him. "What are you talking about? He looks fine whenever I see him."

"As of recently, you've only seen him around Betty," Toni prodded, searching for changes in Veronica's body language or tone. When she doesn't find anything, Toni grabs Veronica's hand, pulling her down to sit on the bench next to her. "Veronica, please don't lie to me."

Veronica refused to meet her eyes instead she chose to look down at the rings on Toni's fingers. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Vee, you've been lying to Jughead, and Archie, and Betty, and maybe even yourself, but please don't lie to me. I see how you two look at each other, and I see how miserable he looks without you.

"He doesn't look miserable, and Betty would have said something to me if she noticed anything."

"He's a good liar," Toni offers quickly.

Veronica scoffs, "I'm sure."

"Veronica, I'm not going to pretend to know how you two feel about each other. But I know what I see. You really care for him and he cares for you. It's obvious that you two are better together, however you can be together." Toni is finally able to catch Veronica's eyes and she finds a vulnerability she wasn't expecting to see from the young woman. "Who called it off?"

"I did mostly, or he did, too. I don't know. All I know is that it's over and I hate it." Veronica finally allows herself to admit how she feels about the situation, and the weight is finally released from her shoulders. 

Toni nodded, "So, make it not over."

"How? I'm sure he hates me, he doesn't even look at me anymore," She thinks of how he dutifully avoids her eyes and refuses to even linger within 50 feet of her.

"He's usually in the backroom of the Whyte Wyrm after school."

-

_look at this godforsaken_

_mess that you made me_

_..._

_you showed me colors you know_

_i can't_ _see with anyone else_

_-_

Veronica finds him exactly where Toni said he'd be, in the backroom of the Whyte Wyrm. His laptop is open but he's not working on his novel. He sits on the couch, resting his head against the back, looking up at the ceiling. 

"Hey, stranger."

Jughead immediately snaps his head up at the sound of her voice and looks her over in question. "What're you doing here?"

She feels her confidence waver, but she doesn't lose her determination. "I wanted to talk to you." Jughead looks mildly disinterested, but he doesn't tell her to leave. Veronica shuts the door behind her, setting her bag on the table where his laptop resides. Taking a seat next to him, Veronica looked at Jughead, who dutifully avoided her eyes.

There's a long pause of silence before Jughead finally looks at her, "You're not talking."

She shifts over to face him completely, and he keeps his eyes on her. "What's up?"

"You came all the way to the Southside, after what I'm sure was a very grueling cheer practice, to come here and ask me what's up?" When Veronica doesn't say anything else, Jughead chooses to continue the conversation. "Nothing is up, Veronica."

Veronica continues staring at him, searching for something in his face. He's not sure if she finds it or not, but she starts speaking. "You're brooding. It's not very becoming of you." She tries to joke but he doesn't smile and she sighs. "Jughead at the very least, you need to learn to be in the same room as me. It was different when we were arguing all the time, now people are starting to think something is wrong."

"I can't be in the same room as you, Veronica."

"Why?" She asks, tired of his downcast tone.

Her question infuriates him for some reason and he gets up to go the door. He stands in the open doorway for a minute, feeling Veronica's eyes boring holes into his back. Instead of leaving like he planned, he shuts the door and leans against it. "I can't be in the same room as you because I want you Veronica. I still want you. I look at you and I don't want to be sitting across the room from you, keeping my fucking hands to myself. So, I'm trying to be everywhere else, because I'm always looking at you Veronica, and if Betty starts to notice, it'll be your worst nightmare come true. I'm doing my fucking best to make this easy for you!"

"There's no possible way to make this easy for me! You think I'm just over it? You think I just brushed this off and decided to come here to make conciliatory gestures for peace's sake? I'm trying my best to figure it out too." Veronica immediately fires back. "I'm trying my best not to look like I'm pining after my best friend's boyfriend! But there's no way this will be easy for me."

Jughead stared at her, watching the black-haired girl seethe on the couch. "You wanted to call it off, you wanted to stop."

"Because it was getting reckless, Jughead! _I_ was getting reckless," Veronica admits, putting her head in her hands.

When she picks her head up to look at him her eyes are shining. She looks completely undone, she looks like how she does at the end of the night, when he's worked her over for hours and she's finally allowed to come down. It wrecks him in ways he didn't even think was possible.

"After you leave, my sheets smell like you and your cologne," She begins, voice small and fragile. "And sometimes, I don't wash them. I always tell myself that it's because you're coming back so soon that it wouldn't make any sense. But I know it's because I like how they smell. I like how my body feels when I'm touched by you. Archie is good; he's a nice, kind boy, but he's not you. I tried to not remember how you always know exactly where to put your hands, where to put your mouth, when to let me take over, but I can't forget. It's not the first ring you left in my bed, but that ring is dangerous, because I keep wanting to invite Archie over when you leave. I keep wanting him to see the scene and understand what happened so he'll leave me, and I can stop washing you out of my room."

Her confession leaves Jughead in shock. He maneuvered his way through their relationship convincing himself that Veronica was only with him for the reason that most teenagers cheat: hormones and adrenaline. Learning that she wanted more than just the high was startling for him. Her confession meant she thought of him just as much as he thought of her. It confirmed that it was more than just an affair, she liked him, maybe even loved him, more than she liked Archie.

He realized that she was just staring at him, waiting for him to react. "I can't be in the same room as you, because I'm getting reckless too. Pulling you into empty hallways and trying to touch you in crowded rooms, I try to be careful, but I don't want to be. I want to put my hands on you because I love how you react, I touch you because I always know exactly what to do. I feel good when I'm with you."

Veronica gets up from her place on the couch, and Jughead moves away from the doorframe. She comes to stand directly in front of him, mimicking their first night in the diner. She raises her hand to cup his cheek and he turns his face to kiss her palm. He steps closer to her, and she feels her body get electric in the way it only does when he's around. When he finally kisses her, for the first time in weeks, she wastes no time pushing his jacket off his shoulders. Jughead quickly walks her back to the couch, laying himself on top of her.

Just as her back hits the couch, the door swings open and Toni stands with Sweet Pea and Fangs. Veronica freezes underneath Jughead, who was already working his hand up her skirt, with his leg between hers.

"Finally, oh my God," Fangs laughs, "Dude, you gotta pay up!"

Sweet Pea rolls his eyes, pulling cash out of his pocket and shoving in Fangs' hand. "You guys couldn't have done this two days ago?"

Fangs counts the money and splits it in half, giving one half to Toni, who smiles as she counts. The men exit, but Toni lingers. She nods as she shuts the door behind her, leaving Veronica and Jughead to each other.

"Toni knows, are you okay with that?" Veronica asks.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. If Toni knows, Cheryl will too, and if she knows the whole school will," Jughead responds to her question by tacking on the worries she's expressed to him many times. 

"If I know Toni, she'll be keeping this to herself," She smiles, pulling him down to kiss her again.

-

_you know damn well_

_for you, i would ruin myself_

_a million little times_

_-_

Veronica knows she shouldn’t have caught Betty’s hand. For the first time in her life, she wishes her reflexes weren’t so fast. She wishes that she could’ve given Betty the satisfaction slapping her across the face, in front of a crowd, like she deserved.

But she couldn’t. Veronica never learned how to take a punch. She tries to open her mouth to apologize, to explain that she didn’t mean to defend herself, and she didn’t want to fight with her.

She knew it was too late for her words, whatever she said now didn’t mean anything to Betty.

“You’re an evil bitch, Veronica Lodge,” Betty spits, wrenching her hand out of Veronica’s grip. “You always have been, and you always will be.”

Her words cut Veronica sharply across the throat, they have her pinned against the wall, and she’s having a tough time catching her breath. Veronica feels the sting of tears behind her eyes and she has no real reason to cry. She brought this on herself. She knew what she was risking by being with him. She knew what she was on the line every time she laid in bed with him.

Betty stared her down with nothing less than hate in her eyes, and Veronica could feel the heat from the stares of the crowd on her as well. She knew that she would end high school as social pariah, she just didn’t know if it would be her father’s doing, or her own.

At least she has her answer.

Veronica frowns, but she doesn’t move. She knows this is what needs to happen. She has to allow Betty the moment to do this, anything to make herself feel better about being crushed in this way. Betty opens her mouth to say something else, but Jughead’s tall, lanky body cuts through the crowd, and he’s behind Veronica before she can even comprehend his presence. The sight of him pressed against her back has to make Betty sick.

Archie has been glaring at her over Betty’s shoulder for the entire encounter, but this is the first time they’ve all been face to face like this. This is the first time the sides have been switched and Betty is not fighting on Jughead’s side. This is the first time Veronica is snarling words of disgust in Jughead’s direction.

Now, he stands up straight on Veronica’s side. He knows he cannot look angry, it’s not an emotion he’s going to be afforded in this situation, but he’s defensive.

“Of course. You find your way to my boyfriend, you just have a penchant for sleeping with the men I love,” Betty looks at Jughead who, unlike Veronica, does not cower under Betty’s intensity. He knows that he deserves the virility of her hate right now, but he wants to be strong, if only for Veronica’s sake. He’s spent so much time watching her that he knows when she’s moments away from crumbling.

He watched her more than he watched his own girlfriend. It was wrong that he could see when she was falling apart and not see when Betty was splitting at the seams.

Betty steps closer to Veronica, looking ready for a real fight. Jughead steps in, he knows he shouldn’t have, he knows he should have let this devolve into whatever it was going to be, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t help the way his body wanted to defend her, just like he couldn’t help the way he loved to touch her. It was just something in his bones, he supposed, that drew him to her.

“You two deserve each other.”


End file.
